All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

It might cost you the same to have a quality painter paint your floors with a quality floor epoxy or paint as it would to have the floors refinished.  

Typically there's a reason why people paint floors.  Usually it's because the floor was trashed beyond repair, but sometimes it's a homeowner who just couldn't be bothered.  

Painting floors was popular in the 19 teens and twenties.  You'll sometimes see painted floors in Victorians and craftsman bungalows.  In these cases, a painted floor can look cute and period-appropriate, depending on the floor.  

I bought a midcentury ranch that had one room with a painted floor.  I had the entire house's hardwoods refinished and it ended up looking absolutely beautiful.  I had no idea that I had a solid birch floor on my hands until after the job was done.  He was also able to get the paint off and only if you look veeery closely at certain areas can you tell that it had ever been painted.  It's just beautiful now.  

I have another craftsman bungalow that I'm currently flipping that has painted floors.  I'm still deciding what to do about them, but these floors are fir, not hardwood, the paint is likely lead-based, and the painted floor (in the bedrooms) fits the house's style.  The floor refinisher said that he would not be able to salvage the floor by stripping/refinishing because it was fir, and it had a lot of small gouges in it and some water damage on one edge.  

Now I'm debating whether to paint over it with a white epoxy floor paint or put engineered hardwood over the top.  

So, to answer your question, whether to paint or refinish or put a layer of some other flooring (e.g. laminate or plank vinyl) on top depends on the style of the house, the condition of the wood floor, and the type of wood.  If it's a modern house (e.g. 1940's or later), then it might be better to either refinish (if the floor is in good shape) or float another floor on top.  

I recently bought and rehabbed a 50's ranch (SFR) right near Eastport Plaza / Marshall High. Currently living there since that's what the bank wants, but the plan is to turn it into a rental after my year-long tenure is up. Also plan to rent space to a tiny house or two in the back. (Lot is double sized.)

Are you planning on buying in Lents @Tara Ballenger? I feel like in the triangle closer to Foster in the 70's is a more happening spot than where I am, south of Powell between 82nd and the freeway.  Lots of development on Foster.  It's not going to be the same in 2-5 years.  

 All this time, John, and I never you you were a banana slug too?? UCSC class of '96 (Porter College aka College 5). Next RareBird meeting, we can reminisce about walking to class through the forest. 

As for the letters, I've never done them for REI but my gut feeling says short and sweet and you'll take the tenants.

Zillow says May is the best month to sell a home (here in Portland), but what about to rent one out?  I've heard spring is best, but this summer I've also seen a lot of tenant activity.  

I'll be starting a tenant's lease September 1 and am trying to decide whether to offer a 9 month or one year lease. The local public school year ends early June and begins late August, but local colleges and universities start late September.  That said, this particular location doesn't hinge on the school district or any nearby university (in other words, most of my tenants have been post-college millennials without kids).  

How do you like to time your leases throughout the year and why? 

p.s. I used to do m2m but local laws require 90 days' notice for rent increases/non-renewals plus a hefty relocation fee if terminating a lease or m2m agreement, so there's no longer much benefit to landlords for m2m.  So this question is directed to landlords who do leases, not month to month agreements.  

As a former owner/lover of a "pit bull" and as a dog-friendly landlord, I agree with what many on this thread have said.  While I believe that breed-specific legislation is wrong, I also believe that, if you own a controversial breed, then you need to be an extra-responsible owner.  

I screen individual dogs (of any breed) with an in-person evaluation before accepting their owners as my tenants.  I check to see how the dogs behave with people, ideally also with children, with dogs, and with cats.  If they show any aggression towards any person or animal, or if they are super wound-up or anxious, they are rejected.  

I also call references from previous landlords.  If there were complaints from neighbors, for any reason, that's also a rejection.  Even a single violation from animal control would be a deal breaker.  This guy needs to go.  

 dogsbite.org is a propagandist site created by a web designer who was bitten by a dog.

Hi Jason. 

The fact that no one has bitten on this thread is a partial answer to your question. For the past few months, I have had a notification set up on BP for "machine learning," "artificial intelligence," and "singularity," but this is the first ping I've seen. 

I'm no AI expert by any definition--just a concerned citizen of Earth trying to make sense of things. That you are already working on using these tools to your advantage puts you ahead of most other investors. How do you imagine deploying them for REI, and for which section of the market? SFRs? Commercial? Something else?

Of course, Redfin and Zillow have a leg up in the residential space, but ultimately, especially in residential RE, there is a human element that can't be replaced by robots. I'm not just talking about emotional buying, but also, it's hard to know (for example with Zillow's zestimates) what the inside of a house feels like and/or if there have been unpermitted updates etc. 

Maybe you're talking about larger commercial property? 

The seller of the house you are buying doesn't want to start from scratch either, regardless of the market temperature in Vancouver WA. 

Can you simply explain the situation and ask for a one day extension to close on your new house? Yeah they are waiting on you for their own down payment, but real estate is real estate and not always cleanly tied in a bow. One extra day won't kill them and is perfectly normal to ask for. Life happens to the best of us. 

@Michelle: *Call* the PM in addition to emailing; be willing to put in an application sight unseen if you are not in Portland yet; be prepared to take possession as soon as the unit is available; don't be a smoker; have excellent credit; if you have pets, be prepared to pay higher rent and deposit; have realistic expectations--do not expect to pay Gresham rent in the Pearl district; follow through and do what you say you will do when you say you will do it. 

Sometimes just showing up and following through, along with making a phone call, will set you apart from 90% of applicants.

PS if you are willing to consider North Portland 5 minutes from downtown, I may be able to help. You are welcome to message me. 

Welcome out of the shadows, Jon! Just in time too, as there's a BP meetup in Portland on 8/1. It would be great to finally meet you. 

-Dani (of Brian and Dani)